San Luis Obispo County CattleWomen had a desire to maintain and encourage an interest in the history of cattle ranching here on the central coast of California. Since much of our state's history is rooted in the ranching experience and some of our area's ranchland is being absorbed into the surrounding suburbs, it seemed more important than ever to acquaint young people with the rich ranching heritage of our area. The CattleWomen decided a field trip in conjunction with the fourth grade studies of California history would be an excellent way to disperse the knowledge and have fun at the same time.

The field trips are held during the spring at three different locations in the county. This enables us to service all of the school districts in our area. They are held for three days at each location. We have about 1600 students that go through our program annually.

The teachers are asked to divide the children into five primary color groups before their arrival. Upon departure from the bus, the children are met by CattleWomen holding up a colored paddle. The children gather with the CattleWoman of the appropriate color. We try to keep each group between 20 and 30 children. At the sound of a ringing cowbell the children are off to their first learning station. They remain at these stations rotating in a clockwise direction for 20 minutes each. This allows enough time for the presentation and also questions, without losing the children's attention.

At every field trip location, SLO County CattleWomen always have their Beef By-Products Barn and their Day in the Life of a Calf demonstration. Other demonstrations can include "working cattle dogs", an explanation of "Laws of the West" by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office, the California Beef Council video, "Cowboys, Then and Now", a western artist, Miss Rodeo California, a historian of the California Vaquero period, etc. The children enjoy learning more about their surroundings and the changes that have occurred over time.

At the conclusion the children are gathered together and served an all-beef hot dog lunch with chili beans, chips, cookies and milk. This gives the CattleWomen and presenters a chance to answer more questions from the children.